INTRODUCTION OH SORRY DIDN T SEE you THERE NOT NOW DIGGER I M TRYING TO WORK ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF MY FRIENDS CALL ME THE DIRTMEISTER Dirtmeister is a nickname that I picked up a long time ago because of the type of work that I do You see Im a geolo gist which means that I spend a lot of my time digging in the dirt Geologists are scientists who study the Earth and try to understand how it got here and how it changes We try to answer questions such as how different rocks form why earth quakes happen what causes volcanoes to erupt and where fossils come from Over the years I ve gotten to do some pretty cool stuff as a scientist Pve also spent a lot of time working in radio and television and I ve been on lots of websites These days my favorite thing to do is to hang out with kids and try to answer some of their questions about science and how the world That's why Ive put this book together Over the years Ive found that kids have lots of questions about how the Earth works so Ive gathered up the best of them and put them here Ive also come up with lots of cool facts called Dirtmeister s Nuggets and a few I stories about the men and women who had a big influence in the I field of geology Inside this book you ll find a bunch of experiments that you can do at home You see Im not like some of those other scientists who say don t do this at home For me science is NOT a spectator sport If you want to learn about how things work then you ve got to mess around with stuff of course before you start doing the experiments PLEASE grab an adult to help That way if anything goes wrong you can blame them r guess the best way to think of me is as your tour guide PR to the inner workings of planet Earth Along with my pal Digger we ll dig into the Earth's past see what makes I our world tick and even take a look at where we may be I headed in the future So put on your hard hat and climb aboard for a wild ride as we get the inside scoop on the planet we call
GOT A QUESTION THAT's DRIVING YOUNUTS Ill TIRED OF GETTING A BUNCH OF INFORMATION THAT DOESN T MAKE SENSE WHO CAN YOU CALL ON TO GET THE STRAIGHT SCOOP ON SCIENCE STUFF SIMPLE YOU CAN CALL ON THAT SUPERHERO OF SCIENCE the D n A in THE DIRTMEISTER and his sidekick DIGGER They aren't afraid to take on the tough questions EA of science no matter how big GE or small For
CHAPTER1 HOW IT ALL BEGAN THEORIGIN OF THE EARTH LET S CHECK OUT THIS VIEW WE RE ABOUT 1 5 MILES 2 4 KM ABOVE SEA LEVEL THIS DESERT AIR IS SUPERCLEAR AS SOON AS NIGHT FALLS IT WILL BECOME ONE OF THE DARKEST PLACES IN THE WORLD DIGGER LOOK UP SEE THE TELESCOPE DOMES AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN I CAN T WAIT TO GET THERE DIGGER WE VE GOT QUESTIONS TO ANSWER AND WE RE IN THE PERFECT PLACE TO GET A BIRD S EYE VIEW OF HOW AND WHEN THE EARTH FORMED LET S TELL HER HOW SCIENTISTS BELIEVE IT ALL
LA SILLA OBSERVATORY CHILE WAIT I VE GOT A CALL COMING IN DIRTMEISTER HERE HELLO HI DIRTMEISTER THIS IS RACHEL AND I M CALLING FROM THE JACK HILLS DOWN HERE IN AUSTRALIA I M OUT ON A FIELD TRIP AND ONE OF THE GUIDES JUST SHOWED US SOME OF THE OLDEST ROCKS ON THE PLANET a HE SAYS THEY RE OLDER THANIEVER IMAGINED JUST HOW OLD IS THE EARTH ANYWAY HOW IS IT FORMED O O OD MOST ASTRONOMERS BELIEVE THAT THE SUN AND PLANETS STARTED OUT AS A LARGE SPINNING CLOUD OF GAS AND DUST CALLED A NEBULA USING POWERFUL TELESCOPES LIKE THESE HERE AT LASILLA ASTRONOMERS CAN ACTUALLY SEE THIS SAME TYPE OF NEBULA IN OTHER PARTS OF OUR GALAXY TODAY LOOK AT THIS ONE CALLED THE ROSETTE NEBULA TO REALLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION RACHEL WE HAVE TO DO SOME RESEARCH DIGGER LET S ROLL ROSETTE NEBULA
